Colonel Douglas Wheelock launched into space on a Russian Soyuz TMA-19 rocket ('Olympus') from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan, in the early morning hours of June 16th. The exact time of the launch was set for 03:35:17 am (Kazakhstan Time). Kazakhstan time is 10 hours ahead of EDT, so in NY State the launch time was Tuesday June 15th at 5:35:17 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Colonel Wheelock started a six month mission as the 'Expedition 25' Commander of the International Space Station (ISS). He hopes to be back home in the United States by Christmas. You may follow the progress of ISS Expedition 25 on the internet by going to www.nasa.gov. In early June, K-12 student artwork for the "Reach for the Stars" poster contest was displayed in the hallway by the district office in the high school. The posters were judged by Mrs. Wheelock, Colonel Wheelock's mother, on June 9th. Winners in each grade grouping (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, & 9-12) will submit a question to Colonel Wheelock when he is the Commander of the International Space Station. They will also have their picture taken with him and their artwork when he returns to visit the Windsor Central School District. The winner's questions will be asked during a Ham Radio contact with the International Space Station (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) at Kopernik Observatory and Science Education Center in mid September. As part of the preparation for the Ham Radio contact with the International Space Station from Kopernik, a group of 40 middle school and high school students from the Windsor Central School District and a group of secondary students from the Owego-Apalachin Central School District will be participating in four full days of educational activities related to space science and space communications at Kopernik Observatory and Science Education Center. The topics they will study include Astronomy (use telescopes, light and sound spectra lab activities, space weather), Satellites (use sky maps to track satellites, build a model satellite, questions for the space station astronauts), Listening to Space (slow scan radio demo and lab, track the space station, listen to space), and Rocketry (building and launch model rockets, future human space flight). Also the district is awaiting word if the "Projectile Motion and Micro Gravity" experiment submitted by Mr. Stephen Mazikewich, a Windsor Central Middle School science teacher, will be conducted on the International Space Station. Additional information about this micro gravity experiment can be obtained by contacting Mr. Mazikewich at smazikewich@windsor-csd.org.
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